Ezbet el-Nakhl displaced residents protest for alternative housing

Mar. 03, 2014 15:35

Residents of Ezbet el-Nakhl during their protest in front of the High Judiciary Courthouse - YOUM7/Amr Moustafa

By THE CAIRO POST

CAIRO: A number of displaced residents evicted by the state from their informal housing settlements in Cairo’s northeast district of Ezbet el-Nakhl gathered outside the Cabinet on Monday to demand alternative accommodation.

Some of these families were displaced from the deprived Duweiqa shantytown in 2008 after a massive rock fell from Moqattam Mount overlooking the area, killing over 100 people.

The government failed to provide all the families with alternative accommodation, therefore some of them resided informally at Ezbet el-Nakhl, particularly under Sheikh Mansour Bridge.

However, the bridge collapsed on Feb. 11 due to a fire that erupted in the tents underneath, according to government statements. Security forces forcibly evacuated Ezbet el-Nakhl residents on Feb. 18.

Deputy Governor of Cairo Ahmed Taymour said in a statement on Feb. 19 that the governorate is housing 420 Ezbet el-Nakhl residents and is tallying up the number of the remaining residents to deliver them to residential housing in Matariya, a district in northern Cairo.

Protests by evicted Ezbet el-Nakhl residents began first at the Supreme Court on Feb. 20. Then on Feb. 26, three residents were injured in clashes with security forces when security attempted to evict them once again from tents they had erected under the bridge after the state first demolished their informal housing.